Month: March 2015

Last few months I was reading Scott Snyder’s Batman: End Game. By introducing a new perspective storyline for The Joker, Snyder really nailed the readers. Well, spoiler alert, in this storyline, the Joker firstly introduced as a man within the Gotham from the first time the city was ever created. His age is the same old as the age of the Gotham city itself.Just like the Lazarus pit effect on Ra’s, the cells on the Jokers also unraveled his secret of immortality. Immortality?

As a human who having limited life span, we are facing the same old problems within the history of our humanity. Throughout history, kings, conquerors, and warlords had the power to command entire empires to wage wars, but there was one thing that was forever beyond their control:Aging.

Many early kings, like Emperor Qin who unified China in 200 BC, sent huge fleets of ships to find the Fountain of Youth, but all failed. Well, they accidentally found Japan instead of that fountain. This story also inspires filmmaker as depicted on the last Pirates of Caribbean movies which involve the Fountain of Youth.

For decades, scientists believed the life span was fixed, we can’t change the “code” inside. But in recent years, this view slowly crumbled. The secrets of the aging process are now being unraveled. The key for this process: Genetics.

Now scientists know what aging is. It is the accumulation of errors at the genetic and cellular level. For example,metabolism creates free radicals and oxidation, which damage molecular machinery of our cells, causing them to age. In a sense of physics, the buildup of these errors can be explained by the second law of thermodynamics: Total entropy. Chaos always increases. This second law is inescapable. Every living thing, even the universe itself is doomed to wither slowly and then die. Thus, scientists developed a theory to slow down this “chaos” and specifically microbiologists try to determine our genetic codes which the aging process took place.

Those Kings realize how powerful they can get if they can decode “The Aging” process. They simply appreciate their own life. Well, to control their entire empires perhaps. While those old Kings and scientists nowadays trying to value human life in their own perspectives, on the other hand, some of the youngsters ended their life tragically: Suicide.

What prompts a person to take his or her life? No one really knows. We never get to talk to people who have committed suicide. Some research says that many suicides are impulsive acts because of something snaps in mind. Many are sparked by intense feelings of anger, despair, hopelessness, or panic.

The first killing in our history was given in many ancient texts in Abrahamic religion such as in the Torah, Bible or Qur’an. In the Qur’an, we can found those text as described in surah 5 ayah 31 and 32. Thus, ﷲ condemn killing a soul. One who kills a soul unless for a soul of corruption,it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. Whoever saves one, it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.

I didn’t really get it about those youngsters, why?

Just admit it. We are just a mere human being. Mortal, for now. Unless the scientists decode those immortality keys, we will experience pain, aging and withered, then die. Appreciate your own life.Live to the fullest.

Then Allah sent a crow searching in the ground to show him how to hide the disgrace of his brother. He said,”O woe to me! Have I failed to be like this crow and hide the body of my brother?” And he became of the regretful.

Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors. [QS. 5:31-32]

Reff:

Kaku, Michio. The physics of the future: The inventions that will transform our lives. Penguin Books. 2011

What would you do when your alarm ringing in the early morning? Feeling annoyed? We tried to turn off the alarm, and usually, go to sleep a little bit more. Is that your daily life?

An alarm is just like that. An alarm is set to make sure you are not getting up late. But because we already know that alarm will be ringing at certain times, and we got disturbed when it is ringing loudly in the early morning, simply put, we just want to turn off that annoyingly sound of the alarm.

By assuming that alarm as a person, what would you do?

Usually, young people lack obeying the advice from the old people. They think that their world differed from their old man. They tend to make new alienated surroundings. Typical of youngsters it seems.

From certain of view, it is just normal that the old people giving advice, it is because they care about their next generation. Regardless of what method and the language they used.

Imagine this, you have a test tomorrow and you just keep playing video games, while your friend reminds you that you should study for the test. You know what you should have been doing, but you didn’t do it.

Or imagine this, sometimes we think we are doing something right, anything and we just can’t be criticized. But the truth we are still unsure about that. And our parents somehow realized this and always reminding us. Remember how your mother usually scolded you? Or your brother/sister?

In the end,we all need reminder despite the fact that we sometimes pretending not hearing it.

If we elaborate it as in the Qur’an says in two surahs:

فَذَكِّرْ إِن نَّفَعَتِ الذِّكْرَىٰ

O remind, if the reminder should benefit; [QS. 87:9]

فَذَكِّرْ إِنَّمَا أَنتَ مُذَكِّرٌ

So remind, you are only a reminder [QS. 88:21]

This form of this two ayahis rather not usual because the object isn’t there. It is not Fadzakkirhum. It’s only Fadzakkir. The ayah from surah al-Ghasiyah explains furthermore the ayah from the previous surah. In other words, whether somebody listens or not, what do you do? Remind. Just remind, that’s your job as mentioned in this two surah. Don’t worry about what effect it has on people.

Maybe it had the effect much later. From the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ, we knew that Abu Sufyan becoming Muslim pretty much later. But he had already heard the Prophet message in his early life.

The magician whom Musa ﷷﷵ encountered also heard the message earlier, but when they saw the miracle they soon accept the message, they make sajdah and they wept in their sajdah.

We simply deducted from this explanation, that ayah from surah al-Ghasiyah can be translated to “You are nothing more than a carrier of reminders”.

The work of da’wah is boiled down to reminding human beings. Reminding them of the past human failures as recorded in the Qur’an or general history. Reminding them of what ﷲ has informed in the future. And importantly, it is for reminding them of the covenant that they had been made with ﷲ already. Before they even came into this earthly world.

ألَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ ۛشَهِدْنَا

…”Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we have testified.”…. [7:172]

لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ ۖ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ ۚ

There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion [deen]. The right course has become clear from the wrong….. [QS. 2:256].

You are nothing more than a reminder. Remind, remind, remind. And a sincere reminder is a need of the human being to benefit from. May ﷲ protect us and remind us wherever we are. 🙂